Phantasmagorias
Artist
Nikos Kessanlis
(1930 - 2004 )
Date1996
MediumLiquid emulsion on canvas
Dimensions180 x 180 cm
Collection No1436
Description
The
work "Phantasmagorias" by Nikos Kessanlis presents a new way to portray
human presence but also to create it with the application of mechanical tools.
A leading figure of Mec Art already since 1965 and with research focusing on
the reconstruction of two-dimensional images exclusively through industrial
photomechanical methods, the artist has instilled this particular technique
into his personal style. In Phantasmagorias, the protagonists repeatedly
photographed themselves in different poses and gestures, with the artist
constantly retouching the density of the shadows and the intensity of their
outlines by adjusting the light. The result —a magnified printout on
sun-sensitive paper— encapsulates Kessanlis’s intervention in the structure of
figures, while succumbing at the same time to the technological processing of
the canvas, which enables the appearance of randomness.